The invention relates to fish hooks and, more particularly, to a fish hook incorporating an encapsulated breakaway joint/swivel mechanism to prevent the hook from being levered out of a fish.
When a fish is hooked, the hook is generally firmly embedded in the mouth or body of the fish, and the hook barb prevents the hook from detaching. As the angler draws the line to retrieve the fish, by virtue of the shape of the hook, the hook shaft/shank acts as a lever relative to the hook portion and barb of the hook. In some orientations, the force by the line acting through the hook as a lever is so great to cause the hook to detach from the fish.
It would be desirable for a hook to react to excessive forces resulting from particular orientations of the hook relative to the line to prevent the hook from detaching when reeling in a fish.